In Psalm 46, the writer described a time when “the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea,” a time when the “waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Those words describe the impact of the announcement that noted Alabama Baptist leader Thomas E. Corts died of a massive heart attack Wednesday morning, Feb. 4.
His sudden death was like a giant granite pillar giving way, sending destruction tumbling down a mountainside.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, once described Corts as “the gold standard of Christian leadership” and he was right.
For two-and-a-half decades, Corts provided leadership for Samford University, for Alabama Baptists and for his beloved adopted state. In the process, he blessed all with his gift of service.
I was privileged to know Tom Corts for more than 40 years.
In 1968, he was the rising star on the administrative staff of Georgetown College in Kentucky. I was the new associate editor of the Kentucky Baptist state paper. Our roles put us together often.
Corts frequently described himself as “a little shy.” Few people would have known it. Most saw him as stately. He was a humble person who never pushed himself forward, yet he was called on to serve his state and his nation as well as Baptists.
Corts’ accomplishments as president of Samford are well-documented. The endowment grew from $8 million to more than $300 million. He oversaw the completion of more than 30 building projects. The football program was re-established. Beeson Divinity School was founded and much, much more.
By the time Corts retired in 2006 after 23 years at the helm of Samford, the school had been transformed from a fine Baptist college into one of the nation’s premier Christian universities, complete with numerous national recognitions.
In the process, Corts earned a stellar reputation for leadership, ability and integrity. When Gov. Bob Riley nominated him to head Alabama’s two-year college system, the nomination drew praise across the state. Corts was viewed as the perfect choice to clean up the mismanagement and corruption in the system that had recently come to light.
Later President George W. Bush appointed him coordinator of basic education for U.S. government assistance programs to the developing world.
Friends asked Corts why he would put himself through the perils of either assignment. One involved him in the underbelly of state politics. The other took him away from home and family.
Corts answered by pointing to the responsibility of citizens to make a difference in the world when given the opportunity. For him, it was always about service, never about honor, title or personal gain.
That mind-set caused Corts to be the founding chairman of Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, as well as a founding director of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. His interests and his expertise were widespread.
He said some people called him a “Baptist fundamentalist.” Corts was turned down for one position because he was considered “too conservative.” Others called him a “radical liberal,” especially during the tensions over Samford electing its own trustees.
What Corts was was a Baptist and for that, he never apologized. He was the son of a Baptist minister. Two of his brothers have served as noted pastors. Another brother served as president of a Baptist college in Florida. A fourth brother was president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Corts was active in every part of Baptist life from his local church to the Baptist World Alliance. He never fit anyone’s preconceived ideas. He said since God created man to think for himself, he wanted to do just that. He not only thought for himself but his conclusions also demonstrated his wisdom.
When the Alabama Baptist State Convention approved Samford electing its own trustees, Corts pledged the university would remain closely tied to the convention.
He kept that pledge. As he said many times, “If God is for us, why shouldn’t we (Samford) be for God?”
The relationship between Samford and the state convention and Samford and its sister Alabama Baptist schools has never been stronger than it is today.
The list of honors bestowed on Corts is long — president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities, appointed to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor and more.
But what he valued more than these were the relationships each open door afforded. Corts took every opportunity to know people — students, faculty, friends of the school, pastors, business people, politicians, maintenance staff. He treated all with dignity and respect.
Strong personal relationships were important to Tom Corts. Perhaps that is why the news of his death was like the earth giving way for this writer and for countless others.
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